A bill calling for the consolidation of the governments of Albany and Dougherty County died Wednesday night as the final minutes of the 2010 session of the Georgia General Assembly expired, clerk officials say.

As promised, Senator Freddie Powell Sims did push Senate Bill 538 through the Senate Committee for State and Local Government Operations and out onto the floor of the Senate for a vote where it passed April 21, according to the clerk of the Senate.

The bill then moved over into the Georgia House of Representatives where it was read twice and was en route to the House committee on local legislation when the session expired at midnight. (read more at albanyherald.com)